May 23, 2006

Lemon Sticks

Directions:Place one peppermint stick in the middle of one lemon half. Repeat. Suck lemon juice through the peppermint stick and be oddly refreshed.

My thoughts:

Odd as it may seem, the peppermint stick/lemon combo is a Baltimore tradition found only at the Baltimore Flower Mart (where it began) and other local festivals. It's just a regular lemon and a regular old fashioned cane sugar peppermint stick. Even though there is no hole in the peppermint, you are able to suck the juice through the candy as the lemon juice begins to eat away at the peppermint. No one seems to know how that this tradition got started but all agree that it has been around for decades. I have never come across this anywhere else and non-natives seem puzzled by it, but it really is a refreshing treat on a hot Spring day.

Due to popular demand: I found these histories and stories about lemon sticks if anyone is interested.

Notice anything new? Coconut & Lime has had a makeover just in time for its 2nd birthday on May 27th. All of the credit goes to the lovely and talented Katherine!

I don't know anything about the history of lemon sticks as you have presented it. However, I can remember public speaking students in Texas who claimed this was the way to avoid the overtaxed vocal cords that came from having to speak in round after round at tournaments.

I was thrilled to see your lemon and peppermint stick treats. I remember them from 30 years ago at Amish fairs I visited on the east coast. Then, the chilled lemons where whole and punctured by a peppermint sugar stick, more porous than a sugar cane, and they were wonderful! I was just telling my twin boys about this – Thanks for the visual.Lauri

I have purchased the peppermint sticks at the store, located right with the lemons but I can't get the juice through. Is there a special place to buy the sticks or a special preperation?Why can't I get the juice through the stick.Welcome comments.

They are the soft type peppermint sticks, not the hard kind similar to candy candies. That might be your problem. If not, you might want to buy juicier lemons or suck harder. You also might want to stick the stick in and let it "soak" for a few minutes before eating. People also have a tendency to squeeze the lemon as they eat so they get more juice. It will never gush like it would from an actual straw so if that is you expectation, you will be disappointed. I hope this helped.

I grew up eating this combo.& they were so fun when you had sleep overs as a child.My mom would always have lemons and a bag of pepermint sticks ready for us....I would say its probably a mexican thing..ha...Mexicans love to eat everything with lemon...seriously. =D

I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas where the 'peppermint orange' is (was?) very popular. Same principle, but with an orange. During the '50s -'70s, they were served at concession stands on Friday nights at the local h.s. football games.

I grew up here in California with putting a piece of regular candy cane in an orange every Christmas. (70's-present day)We got them in our stockings. You need juicy oranges and patience. The acid eats right through the candy. I can't wait to try it with lemons! We still have lots of leftover candy canes, yummy!

I've had these before! They were very good! I hope to see them in just about every festival. So I added this to my mock religion website, saying it is the official treat of the annual "Who Needs Monday Week". I even added this webpage. Heheh..I hope you don't mind!

Oh, awesome, thanks for this post! We had them every year at my school's Field Day (Norfolk, VA). Instead of halving the lemon, tho', we had them with a whole lemon, just a hole punched in the peel with an apple-corer or some such tool.

I found a passable facsimile of the peppermint sticks we used to use for this at a Cracker Barrel recently. I made myself one and posted a pic to my Facebook page, which led to some speculation about where the lemon-with-a-peppermint-stick-in-it came from. Thank you for the info! :)

Decided to share this experience with my daughters during the holidays and didn't know it originated in Baltimore..brought back so many memories of me and my mom at the flower mart..didnt know a peppermint stick could have such and affect